World's End Diorama
by Wrorus
Summary: Tetsuya, the life-long companion of a witch yearns to become human. The witch, in respect to her companion's wishes, gives him a chance. Now, how far will he go to become human, especially when all it seems when it comes to being a human is experiencing pain, sadness, fear and difficult love? GoM/Kuroko, massive AU.


**A/N**: I like writing in 2am in the morning and publishing the document the next day. So, yeah, this is hot off the press. More info at the end.

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**World's End Diorama**

Chapter 1: The Beginning of an Endless Tale

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_A long, long time ago, there was a young, beautiful maiden, who was a normal commoner, born in the outskirts of a land faraway with a name long forgotten by age. She had been loved by her family, the townsfolk and all of the innocent children for not only a beauty, but the kindness and generosity that she had. You could say that she was the happiest girl you would find in a perfect fairytale, only that she wasn't all that happy like she should be. The reason she wasn't happy was because her family was poor and at times, it was a battle to put food on the table for a week when their crops, as they were all farmers, did not flourish like they hoped. So, the girl searched for a better alternative instead of relying on their crops for money._

_One day, she came across the perfect opportunity, the alternative she had been searching for. The girl had been sent to the capital for work to support her family when the kingdom's royal family wanted more workers in their castle and she had fit their criteria, as they wanted young women and men. It was an intimidating offer at first, but she swallowed down her anxiety for the sake of her family and stepped into the maids' quarters with her head held high – she was ready to do anything her employers asked her to, ready to face the challenges thrown at her and ready to conquer all her fears. Luckily, the young maiden adapted fast, everyone was friendly to her and she had made many friends with those who were summoned to work there as well, so it was all well and everything was perfectly fine. _

_Unexpectedly, on a fine afternoon, while the young maiden was doing her duty at the stable, attending to one of the horses by brushing its beautiful mane, she was approached by one of the royal family members, the second prince. When the girl realized she was being watched by the prince, she quickly stopped her duties and hastily bowed in a courteous manner, her eyes casted downwards to avoid eye contact, because looking into the eyes of a royal was rude while apologizing for not noticing his lord's presence. The prince brushed it and told her it was alright, telling her to look at him in the eye, and saying that he allowed it. Once all introductions and misunderstandings were cleared, the two struck up a conversation. _

_For a very long time, the prince had always been watching the beautiful girl from afar, admiring her beauty and always longing to be with the girl. Of course, the girl didn't know that, since the prince was careful not to reveal it and successfully scare away the girl and isolated by his family for falling in love with a lowly peasant in the process had he been found out. _

_Time passed and the two finally became friends, with the prince's love growing vast each and every day while the girl remained oblivious to the prince's advances, as she only seen him as a dear friend. Finally, the prince, armed with impatience and courage, proposed to the girl on a starry night when they had their fortnightly meetings in the garden for light hearted conversations away that did not befit royal and servant._

"_I swear, __*******__, I will love and protect you with all my might. I will give you the possession of my heart and body without a second thought and I ask for yours in return. Will you be mine?"_

_Overcome with fear and confusion, the girl vehemently denied his proposal in tears and ran away from the garden, unable to face the prince after the ordeal. While the girl was far away sorting out her feelings, the prince himself was feeling vexation and humiliation from his own actions. He had laid himself bare in front of the girl he loved, offering his faithfulness and infinite love that no one could hope to receive, but the girl had thoughtlessly turned him away with so much intensity that he felt himself shaking from it. _

_**How dare she**__, he thought with much pain and betrayal, __**how dare she do that to me**__._

_The infuriated prince bit back his own tears and silently promised revenge. _

_The unfortunate girl had been publicly executed by the royal family, based on the accusations of their second oldest prince for being a "sly and filthy witch" that bewitched him with a forbidden love potion, though in truth, retribution against the maiden for not accepted the lying prince's love. _

_When she was on the execution stage, confronted by the looks of contempt from the onlookers, she was filled with hatred and fury, because she was outraged at the dirty truth of her execution. Consumed by her own powerful emotions, the maiden's heart was twisted with despair and the Gods, seeing her suffering at the hands of fellow humans, had decided to bestow upon her power as a display of fairness. _

_It was power equivalent to that of a real witch. _

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"Milady, how did it end?" asked the young boy with eyes akin to the color of the limitless sky. He seemed emotionless, but he was filled curiosity. "What happened after the girl gained her powers?"

The woman chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. Once her hand made contact with his hair, the boy pouted at the movement but made no move to protest, since the woman would just do it again anyways.

"This time, it's a story without an ending, little Tetsu." She simply replied while smiling, though it seemed strained under the watchful eyes of the boy, or Tetsu, as he was called. Milady was always a curious being to Tetsu, though in spite of all that intricate puzzles, complexities and contradictions she seemed to hold, he would never question his master. "It stops there, so you have to draw your own conclusions."

Tetsu seemed unaffected by her response, but deep down, he was a little annoyed at the abrupt cut to the story. He was fine making his own conclusions and it would be fun to think up of an appropriate one based on the characters' personalities, but it would not be as satisfying to know the real end of it. In short, it felt like it wasn't worth it.

"That's fine, but I don't want to make up a conclusion." declared Tetsu with determination, or maybe he was just being pigheaded. "I want to know the real end."

"But dear Tetsu," she said, with one of her pained smiles again, though this time, her mouth was becoming a straight line and Tetsu knew that it was her expression that conveyed 'I don't want to talk about it'. Again, he would wonder about this tidbit, but he would never say it. "There is no ending. Well, not known to me, at least." She muttered darkly, her eyes foggy like the illusory clouds in the garden, her expression conveyed was that of lost person in a forest full of mist and she didn't know her way out of it.

Already noticing his milady's distress, Tetsu decided to drop the topic. He didn't like making any woman cry, though the only woman and probably person he would ever know is his master, since in this small garden, there held no life but the two, but then again, both of them were deathless. "Okay." He said blankly, deciding not to push.

The older woman nodded, already breaking out of her darkness and back to her cheerful smiles. "Thank you, Tetsuya." She said with as much appreciation she could muster in her voice. She only said the boy's full name when she was serious and sincere.

Tetsuya only tilted his head slightly forward in acknowledgement, with small twitches at the corners of his mouth to form his own smile, but he was unable to fully form one. The woman patted his head out of fondness, already knowing that Tetsuya was smiling, even if he didn't actually show it on his face.

_She's doing this again_, thought Tetsuya in his mind, already knowing his master's tactics in avoiding the forbidden topic. But he would never forget it, no matter what.

"May I ask you a question, Milady?" he asked aloud, completely changing the subject.

She chuckled at the boy fondly. Inside, she was hoping it was not what she thought she was going to hear again. "You're already asking one, Tetsu."

The boy, Tetsuya, was actually an artificially-created being made with magic, infused with a magical ore that acted as his core (since he didn't need working organs to be alive, which meant he didn't have a heart) and he was free from the grasps of Death himself thanks to the woman's skillful magic. He was the only other living being other than the woman in the garden, also known as the Hanging Garden in the tongue of Gods and otherworldly beings. However, the Hanging Garden was actually just an outer appearance to hide its true form, which was the gateway of life and death, the Void.

The woman, who was technically the boy' master, as she was the one who gave life to the boy, was the one who presided over the Void, hence her title as "The Witch of the Void", with the meaning of the feminine form of wizard, not an ugly, unpleasant woman. She acts as its governor to lead souls into the afterlife, though what happened beyond the gateway was none of her concerns. However, the reason why she became the Void's presider was not Tetsuya's business.

As for the reason for Tetsuya's existence, it's rather simple; the Witch wanted a life-long companion to accompany her in her boring world that only stretched forward to the invisible walls that chained her within the Void and by extension, the Hanging Garden. So, he was made to keep her company and erase loneliness that came with being immortal. He became her greatest masterpiece, but according to the Witch, he had a _major flaw._

"Will you allow me to become human?"

He placed his brave façade as a front. Even if his master used fairytales to distract him, he will always go back to this forbidden topic. It was what he always wanted and he would not give up on it. Magic often used the caster's own emotions and sometimes, it infuses their traits into what they create. In this case, it was the Witch's stubbornness.

Again, the Witch seemed pained to hear those words, but she forced herself to react. "What makes you say that, Tetsuya?"

It was Tetsuya's desire to become mortal. It wasn't like the idea of being an immortal was displeasing to the boy, but rather the fact that he too, was stuck in this realm because of his immortality. He wished to become human, so he could explore the human realm and find his own happiness there. Being deathless was extremely pointless when what laid ahead was emptiness and isolation.

"I wish to explore the world." His reason was pure and simple. No sugarcoating or lies were needed. Tetsuya will always be honest to his master, even if it means hurting her. "To do that, I need to leave this place by becoming the opposite of an immortal."

The Witch's expression twisted into that of silent ire, her mouth tilting upwards into a prominent sneer. Her mood was ruined as it is, due to the boy's action of voicing out his wish. "Don't be such a contumacious child, Tetsuya." She spat out those words like they were poison on her tongue. She stood up from her seat under the tree, planning to walk away from this conversational train wreck.

This time, it was Tetsuya's turn to sound angry. Was it wrong of him to express his only wish? No matter how he tried to break it to her, she always turned her head away, never listened to him and hid herself until he stopped temporarily. Why? Was it so hard to take her time to listen and contemplate the reasons behind his actions? "Do not make me sound like some sort of overly indulgent child, Milady." He stood up and faced her, his eyes turning as hard as steel to show his determination.

She closed her eyes to shield herself from the form of a headstrong boy and filled her mind with mundane images, despite not facing him. Sometimes, she could just imagine how he would react even without actually seeing him. He really needed to learn how to give up and move on.

"Why do you desire such atrocious… ridiculous things, Tetsuya?" her voice broke halfway, but she finished her words without stopping. She felt like she was drowning from the pain, cries of enragement and imaginary sea made from frustrated tears. "I can give you anything you want, but why must you wish for the one thing I cannot?" she felt the heavy irony from her own statement.

Tetsuya did not answer her question with excuses, reasons or empty promises. Instead, he said, "Look at me in the eyes." It was not silent in volume, but loud in intensity. "You will find your answers if you turn around and look at me."

Deciding to yield to what her creation said, the Witch opened her eyes, turned around and faced the boy.

_Look at me_, those eyes seem to say. _I may not speak of pleasing words to get what I want, but I will get what I want. I know, because you will see the powerful resolution in these soulless eyes. You will see the fire ignited from that resolution, even if you hear no crackles or feel no heat._

The woman hesitated slightly before answering. If she had to stop this foolishness by breaking the boy's will, she would do whatever it takes. This will be a lesson to be taught. He would know of true pain after this. Especially when he would go through what she did when she was foolish once.

"Little Tetsu, you will be mortal for a brief time. Being human has no benefits for the likes of us when the only thing that revolves in a human life is never ending pain." she said harshly. "But if you're so eager, I might as well amuse you. Tetsuya, you will be sent through the human timeline to experience countless of number lines."

"Human timeline and number lines?" asked Tetsuya.

"The human realm's anchor is continuous time while our anchor is halted time. To put it simply, the time for humans work differently from ours. It's like melting ice and frozen ice. Time for them moves while ours don't, which is why we're deathless. Their timeline have number lines, which are like branches of trees that stretch out, but gradually reach back to one point to meet before separating again."

Then, she bended down to pick up a fallen leaf from the ground and turned it into a silver pocket watch with intricate flower designs and leaves twining around each other. Then, she tossed the pocket watch to Tetsuya, who caught it.

"That is a pocket watch. Of course, it isn't a normal human device to tell time, but it will tell when your time ends. Once it makes a full loop and strikes twelve," she said as Tetsuya opened it to see the roman numerals carved inside. "Your life will end in the current number line and you will be sent to the next number line by 'reincarnation'." She made air quotation marks for this particular word.

"Reach to a conclusion that I can accept from these line jumps." She said as her made hand gestures for a spell. "By then, we will meet again and if you give an appropriate answer..." _you might become human_, those words were left unsaid, but heard loud and clear.

In the next moment, there was a bright red flashes, a glowing magic circle that surrounded Tetsuya and Tetsuya's disappearance.

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"I wonder which one of us is more stubborn." were Tetsuya's final words before he disappeared.

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_We won't be meeting for a while and I know I'm doing something terribly cruel to you_, the Witch thought to herself. _But once you realize it, Tetsuya, you will want to turn back from this absurdity of yours_.

_The realization of the only thing that revolves in a human life is the never ending pain… of love. _

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**Explanation**: In case that you don't understand (that's fine, it's only the first chapter and it's rather hard to comprehend this story on its raw outlines, especially when there are unexplained things, so no worries!), this is an **alternate universe** where Kuroko is the creation of the Witch of the Void. However, Kuroko has a wish to become human, so finally, the Witch relents and makes him go through a quest of sorts before he gets what he wants.

**The Witch of the Void**: The Witch of the Void is a supernatural, otherworldly being. She will be constantly referred to as "older woman", "The Witch", "sorceress", "Tetsuya's master"(not mistress, since it also holds the other more unpleasant meaning) or just "her". She plays a big role in this AU, since she's the main plot device, so she will be mentioned at times and even get a cameo in some chapters (or all chapters, maybe, who knows). She holds no romantic interest for Kuroko, who is technically, her child (calm down, if you thought this was the direction the story was heading for). Her backstory (if you noticed that she was sensitive when it came to topics about fairytale endings, humans and mortality) will be explained later on.

**The Hanging Garden/Void**: Just a place which is part of the plot, but not a plot device to move things along. No need to stress over this.

**The "Quest"**: Basically, Kuroko will jump to a certain point of time via 'reincarnation'. In each number line (think of it as some sort of certain point of time, like let's say... WWII as an example), Kuroko will meet one of the Generation of Miracles and shit happens. If I say anymore, it'll be spoilers, haha. The point of the "quest" is to falter Kuroko's will to become human, when he experiences the pain, sadness, fears, desires and love of being a human.

**Kuroko himself**: Kuroko is an immortal. He is made with strong magic and a magical ore that acts as his core, or heart. He doesn't have working organs, cannot get hurt, has super strength and cannot die. But, in the number lines, he will be able to experience working organs, getting hurt, does not have super strength and is able to die, thanks to the fact he will be temporarily human. By the way, he will be constantly referred to as Tetsuya instead of Kuroko, since he doesn't have a surname.

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**A/N**:I hope I'm not revealing too much, but I want all of you to get the gist of this story instead of being totally confused and whatnot. I'm satisfied with how this came out, so I hope you guys like it. Please leave a review on your way out!


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